California May Reach 50 Percent Renewable Goal 10 Years Early

November 15, 2017

An annual report issued Monday by California regulators found that the state’s three big, investor-owned utilities — Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. — are collectively on track to reach the 50 percent milestone by 2020, although individual companies could exceed the mark or fall just short of it.

In 2016, 32.9 percent of the electricity PG&E sold to its customers came from renewable sources, according to the report. Edison reached 28.2 percent renewable power in 2016, while SDG&E — the state’s smallest investor-owned utility — hit 43.2 percent.

California first started requiring utilities to increase their use of renewable power in 2002. Brown and his Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, ratcheted up the targets over time. Known as the renewable portfolio standard, the requirement has become one of the state’s most important tools for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and fighting climate change.

Brown has touted California’s ability to boost renewable power and lower emissions while growing its economy. Even as President Trump has moved to scale back federal efforts to combat global warming, Brown has been pushing other states and foreign governments to join California.

“We don’t want to do nothing and just sit there and let the climate get worse,” he said Monday by phone from Germany, where he is attending climate talks. “California is all in.”

The requirement triggered a boom in the construction of solar power plants and wind farms. At the same time, renewable power prices have plunged. The average utility contract price for buying electricity from a large-scale photovoltaic solar facility dropped from $135.90 per megawatt-hour in 2008 to $29.17 in 2016. Wind power prices fell from $97.11 per megawatt-hour in 2007 to $50.99 in 2015, according to the report.

So much solar power now floods the California grid from late morning through mid-afternoon that on many days, there isn’t a need for all of it. But the state is still heavily reliant on conventional power plants burning natural gas, which provide the large majority of California’s electricity during late afternoons and evenings.

40 percent of California residents cannot afford to buy a home. 29 percent are on welfare, 2.5 million are illegals, the cost of water, fuel and electricity are going up at double digit rates, none of that solar or wind is supported by any green if they can see the solar farm or wind farm from their front window.

Brown is going out of office. The governor to be is mostly likely a democrat so will continue current policy so we will see increased costs to own or buy a home, increased water, power and tax costs which will drive more people into welfare and out of state along with the jobs.

That may be a good thing depending on your point of view or a bad thing. take your pick.

It could be worse; those Californians could be growing up in a Third world country.

Transition to renewable power sources is not only a necessity to attempt to mitigate against the more catastrophic possibilities of anthropogenic climate change, it may soon be inevitable solely due to market forces as solar and wind-based energy solutions become more cost-effective.

As usual, The resident troll spews more off-topic rancor and irrelevancies. We are supposed to feel Brown is doing a lousy job as governor because his state has enormous challenges yet has generous welfare benefits? Bite me.

And, in case you missed yet another memo, this post is about the leading role Brown and California are doing with renewable energy, which is laudable and leading to huge savings for the citizens of the state.

OK. You’re right. We cannot afford to save the world for future generations. Let’s save our money. We can die clutching a few pieces of paper. There’s something really out of whack with your ideas about what we can afford at a reasonable price: In wars and disasters, people will part with a kilo of gold for some shelter or food.

Where it has “So much solar power now floods the California grid from late morning through mid-afternoon that on many days, there isn’t a need for all of it” isn’t it tied into the North American grid ?

Yes. In fact, California is a net importer of electricity, despite having a surplus at peak solar. So there’s plenty of room for California to install more solar and ship it further east … if the grid has the capacity to move it. Ideally, 3pm sunshine in CA would be powering 6pm dinner on the East Coast. But I’m not sure the grid is quite that good.

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An annual report issued Monday by California regulators found that the state’s three big, investor-owned utilities — Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. — are collectively on track to reach the 50 percent milestone by 2020